We generally like to avoid group tours—I’m always the guy who wanders off or tries to duck out of things—but traveling within Egypt is very difficult for outsiders if you’re not at least affiliated with some guide or company. The many tour companies and guides here are heavily regulated by the government. The government has been concerned about tourist safety since a number of terrorist attacks occurred on tourist sites in the nineties; they try to put on a show of monitoring and tracking visitors, offering security guards, escorts and endless rows of metal detectors (We’re convinced very few of these metal detectors actually work, and to be honest, teenagers with automatic weapons and ill-fitting uniforms don’t exactly inspire confidence).
We hooked up with a tour company recommended to us by Travel Betty (thanks Tracy!) called Egypt 7000. Happily, we aren’t in any ‘group’ situation, Egypt 7000 have been driving us around and helping us with scheduling, reservations and logistics… Mohammed (more on him later) met us at the airport, made sure we checked in to our hotel, and has been great making sure we don’t get lost among Cairo’s teeming streets. It’s quite a relief to have their help; otherwise we’d completely exhaust ourselves, and we don’t want to burn out so early in the trip…
1 comment:
what a market for ASTRO TURF!!
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